USA Ultimate

Olivia Hampton, Team USA U-20 Girls

Wednesday August 15, 2012 09:30PM Boy, does this Irish weather love to play tricks on you. We woke up this morning to some brisk wind and sunshine, only to be greeted on the fields with driving rain and powerful gusts. With some time to spare, the girls team huddled in our raincoats on the sidelines of the USA vs. Germany game.

The incredible weather combined with intensive play from both teams pumped us all up, and we couldn’t wait to tackle our game against the Austria U-17 team. It didn’t take long for us to discover that the slick fields, high level winds and on and off rain showers made perfect slip-n-slides for intense drills in our warm up.

Dressed in all white (and plenty of mud), we were ready to face the challenge of the inclement weather. Though we had been defeating teams efficiently so far in easier weather, the new conditions excited us. We were ready to prove to our coaches and  other teams that no matter the situation, we are able to play excellent USA Ultimate in any condition. Entering the game, we started with zone and ran variations of our defenses to practice our own skills and confront the Austrians’. The pressure challenged their throwers to efficiently swing the disc through the wind and rain repeatedly. But our loud sideline and ability to communicate and anticipate throws led to both defensive blocks and turnovers due to weather. Overall, the game posed a mental challenge to persevere through adverse conditions and stay intense as a team.

It was great to have the rest of the afternoon off, and we all hope the weather gets better as the games will continue to demand a higher level of skill and focus. However, no matter what challenges we face, they will make us better and bring us closer as a team.

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For more information on these teams, visit USA Ultimate's 2012 WJUC page.  The list of diary entries is available at the bottom of the page.